Asia Is Second in Space Deals. Southeast Asia’s Next Step Is Private Capital.

Deals are present. The question is who is writing the cheques—and in Southeast Asia, right now, it is mostly governments.

Where did all that money go?

Seraphim counts space deals worldwide every quarter. Its latest count runs to the end of June 2026.

In those twelve months, the world put US$23 billion into space companies. The twelve months before that: US$9.7 billion.

The number of deals over those two years went from 582 to 620. Up 6.5%.

So the money grew. The deals barely did.

The cheques got bigger. The average round from April to June 2026 was US$72.5 million, up from US$68.1 million. But the median round—half bigger, half smaller—stayed at US$15 million.

The big rounds got bigger. The middle one did not move.

Seed was 47% of all space rounds in the year to June 2026. Rounds at Series D and beyond went from 22 to 49, up 123%.

The whole market added 38 deals. Series D and later accounted for 27 of them.

Which leaves Series A, B and C.

So why does Asia feel different?

Because it is.

Asia did 212 deals in the year to June 2026, up 15%. North America did 250. Europe did 136.

In the April-to-June quarter, North America took 75.9% of all the money spent. Four of the ten biggest rounds in that quarter were European, according to Seraphim’s table.

Asia is producing deal volume. But the capital is still concentrated elsewhere.

Who is signing?

I built last week’s cap table a fortnight ago. Of the six Asian rounds in it, five had a government fund on them.

India’s Technology Development Board signed two RDI Fund agreements in one week: Rs 200 crore for Agnikul’s reusable Agnibaan launch vehicle and Rs 63.84 crore for GalaxEye’s multi-sensor Earth-observation satellite. Both were structured as optionally convertible debentures—state-backed R&D finance that can convert into equity, rather than a conventional venture round.

Chinese state and city funds were in three more, all named in that table.

Singapore’s SEEDS Capital co-invests with private investors. For deep-tech startups, it can put in S$2 for every S$1 raised on the first S$1 million of SEEDS investment. After that, the ratio drops.

In Asia, the state is usually in the room. And usually early.

These public instruments are not necessarily counted in Seraphim’s private-VC tracker. But they show where early technical risk is being absorbed.

Asia does big deals too

China’s ADA Space raised US$517 million that quarter, the fourth-largest space round in the world on Seraphim’s count.

It was behind True Anomaly’s US$600 million, Germany’s STARK at US$570 million and Finland’s ICEYE at US$520 million.

ADA Space already has twelve of a planned 2,800 satellites in orbit.

That is late-stage capital buying scale.

What do you actually need at each stage?

Early money buys proof that the technology can work—and that someone may want it.

Singapore’s Aliena raised a US$5.6 million Series A in 2024 with two systems already in orbit. SEEDS Capital, DSTA’s Cap Vista and NTUitive were among the investors.

Japan’s JAOPS raised US$1.7 million in October with paying customers in six countries. The seed round builds on earlier support from JAXA’s Space Strategy Fund and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Middle money buys repeatable revenue and the capacity to serve more customers.

India’s Pixxel raised US$100 million with six satellites deployed and NASA contracts.

Late money buys being the biggest one doing it.

ADA Space raised US$517 million after launching the first 12 satellites of a planned 2,800-satellite constellation.

The pattern is clear: early public money absorbs technical risk. Private capital arrives once flight heritage, customers and production become easier to underwrite.

Southeast Asia’s three

Singapore alone has about 70 space companies.

But the wider region is much smaller than it looks.

Tracxn tracks 51 private space startups across Southeast Asia. It excludes government agencies and companies living mainly on state contracts.

Ten have raised funding.

Three have reached Series A or beyond.

Three.

Most space work in the region still runs on government money. Tracxn is built to track private money.

Government capital in Southeast Asia is present at the first-product and first-flight stage. The missing piece is private follow-on capital: investors willing to fund the journey from a successful demonstration to recurring revenue, manufacturing scale and international contracts.

The question is not whether Asia can generate space deals. Asia already does.

The question is whether Southeast Asia can create companies that private investors will fund after the first flight.

In mid-2025, the worry was that space money was drying up. It went to US$23 billion instead.

Asia signed 212 of those deals.

Three Southeast Asian companies got past Series A.

— Shirley